Japan arms sales shift rings alarm
People's Daily Online
By Sun Xiaobo (Global Times) 15:29, April 02, 2014
China said Tuesday it is highly concerned about Japan's lifting of its arms export ban, the first major overhaul in nearly half a century, amid strained relations between the two Asian powers.
The Japanese cabinet on Tuesday approved new principles on arms exports, which only ban arms sales to conflict-involved nations or exports that may violate UN resolutions. The new policy also states that the sales must contribute to international peace and Japan's security.
The previous policy banned Japan from exporting weapons to communist states, nations subject to embargoes of UN resolutions and those involved in international conflicts.
The relaxation of the weapons export regime will threaten regional security and is a move by the Japanese government toward revision of the country's pacifist constitution, analysts say.
Japan's policy changes in military and security areas have a direct bearing on the security environment and strategic stability of the region, as well as on the direction of Japan's future development, China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular press briefing.
"We hope the Japanese side can draw profound lessons from history and pay attention to the security concerns of its Asian neighbors," he said.
Hong also expressed hope that Japan can pursue a path of peaceful development and take other actions that are conducive to regional peace and stability.
Beijing's tense response comes after rows over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013, deemed a symbol of Tokyo's lack of reflection over its military past. The two countries are also caught in a territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
The old policy on arms exports, enacted in 1967, turned into a blanket ban on all weapons exports in 1976, with only a few exceptions such as to the US. It was considered a symbol of Japan's pacifist stance.
Under the new rules, Japan can export weapons to neighboring countries, some of which are at loggerheads with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea such as the Philippines, said Feng Zhaokui, an expert on Japanese studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
"In this way, these countries will enhance the quality of their weapons and this is partially to counter China," Feng told the Global Times.
Japan has already supplied equipment to the Philippines coast guard that is increasingly on the front line in the row with Beijing, according to AFP.
India is also talking with Japan on possible procurement of US-2 amphibious aircraft by ShinMaywa Industries, reported the Kyodo News.
Japan's Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters Tuesday that with this move, Japan will further contribute to international peace and seek technological cooperation "in the field of defense equipment."
But Lü Yaodong, a research fellow in Japanese studies at CASS, said with expanded arms exports from Japan will actually bring instability and insecurity to the region under the guise of contributing to world peace.
The revision to the arms export principles comes at a time when the Abe administration is considering revising the country's pacifist constitution to allow Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.
"The old principles were made according to the ideas of the constitution. Since the policy shift may threaten regional security, it goes against these original ideas," Lü told the Global Times.
With this move, the government intends to ultimately move toward constitutional revision, he noted.
Under the new rules, Japan plans to strictly screen weapons exports and keep in check the unstated use and transfer of Japanese equipment to third parties, Kyodo reported.
But such decisions, totally based on the subjective judgment of Japanese government, are not feasible, Lü said.
Kyodo said opinion polls indicated the public in Japan is unsure about the decades-old guidelines being changed, but did not reveal the specific poll results.
A senior Japanese media expert, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times that he would support the relaxation of the weapons export regime due to the benefit it would bring to Japan's arms industry, if the decision is made under a rational and open-minded government.
"However, given the lack of trust between neighboring countries and the belligerent Abe administration, such a revision will trigger more suspicions from neighboring countries about Japan making a return to militarism," said the expert.
"So the precondition for lifting the weapons export ban should be deep reflection by the Abe administration on war-time history," he noted.
Japan plans to increase its military spending by 5 percent over the next five years as part of a new national security strategy.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
